Muskegon County, MI Noise Ordinances: Amplified Music & Outdoor Sound (2026)

Muskegon County's Parks Ordinance regulates amplified sound with a distance-based test rather than a decibel meter. Section 9(1)(c), part of the ordinance's Public Conduct chapter adopted June 14, 2022, bars a person on county park property from using any sound amplification device, loudspeakers, audio devices, or car stereos which produce sound at a level which can be heard clearly 20 feet from the source, bothers or annoys other park users, park neighbors, or in any other way disturbs the peace and order of a park area, unless the County or its designee has given prior written permission, either as part of a facility reservation or on its own.

The rule folds two tests together: sound audible past 20 feet from its source, and sound that bothers or annoys other users or disrupts the park's peace and order, so a device can violate the section even at a shorter range if it disturbs neighbors, or even at exactly 20 feet if it is otherwise disruptive. The same subsection names both stand-alone equipment, loudspeakers and audio devices, and vehicle stereos, so a car radio played loudly in a park lot falls under this rule as much as a speaker at a picnic shelter.

Groups planning a wedding, concert or other event that needs amplified sound obtain written permission through the County's facility reservation process; without it, running a speaker or stereo above the 20-foot threshold is a rule violation the moment a neighbor complains. Muskegon County Parks and Recreation staff and Sheriff's Office deputies enforce the section under Sections 1 and 21.